While advocating for more civility in politics, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre also called on elected officials on Friday to explore the reasons why Canadians feel so angry in the current political climate.
Speaking to reporters in Ottawa, Poilievre referred to a recent article by Erin O’Toole posted on the publication’s website. substackin which the former Tory leader called the “F***Trudeau” flags “the very antithesis of what it means to be a Tory.”
Poilievre responded to the blog post by saying that he doesn’t like flags.
“But I think we have to ask ourselves, why are people so angry? Why are people so angry? And the answer is that they are suffering,” he said.
“You know, it’s easy for the political establishment to say, ‘Stop whining.’ But when you’re one of the 1.5 million people who went to a food bank in March, it’s not that easy.”
Poilievre went on to refer to a case at the Mississauga Food Bank in Ontario, where a customer asked about medical assistance to die because of the poverty they were living.
He also pointed to the cost of home ownership and opioid addiction as other examples of how Canadians are struggling, adding that in his nearly two decades in politics I have “never seen so much pain and suffering in our population.”
“So of course, let’s tell people to be more civic. But, as political leaders, let’s try to solve the problems that have upset, angered and hurt people so much,” Poilievre said. “It is our job to turn that pain into hope, to transform it into something better.”
In the article, which he published on Thursday, O’Toole called the “proliferation” of political displays like “F*** Trudeau” flags “a sign that we are slowly becoming desensitized to political trickery and aggressive rhetoric.” , whether it is from the right or the left.”
“Indeed, the extremes seem to be playing off each other as they frame the debate around the motivations of political leaders. The far left claimed that (former Prime Minister) Stephen Harper was destroying Canada and the far right claimed that (former Prime Minister) minister) Justin Trudeau is a traitor,” says O’Toole.
“These radical positions may seem outlandish to most Canadians, but unfortunately, extreme views are further amplified and often drown out more moderate views.”
O’Toole, the Durham, Ontario MP, resigned as leader of Canada’s Conservative Party in February after a majority of his caucus voted to remove him.
Under O’Toole, the Conservatives won the most votes in the 2021 federal election, but failed to win the majority of seats, with a net loss of two constituencies. The Liberals would go on to form a minority government.
O’Toole’s ouster as leader came amid the trucker convoy demonstration in Ottawa that saw weeks of protests against vaccine mandates and COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
CTV News reported a couple of days after O’Toole’s resignation that interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen had previously lobbied him to support the protests. O’Toole met up with some truckers heading to Ottawa on late January.
Poilievre won the Conservative leadership in September.
With files from CTVNews.ca Senior Digital Parliamentary Reporter Rachel Aiello, former CTVNews.ca Producer Sarah Turnbull and CTV National News Senior Political Correspondent Glen McGregor